Author: Staff Writer

As consumers continue to weigh the impact of COVID-19 on their finances, many will be considering options to protect themselves from financial difficulties. Earlier this week, FNB announced its new set of cashflow relief measures for customers whose finances have been impacted by COVID-19 to enhance the set of measures customers would have historically relied on, like Credit Life where applicable. The Bank acknowledges and agrees with personal finance commentators that credit insurance has always provided relief to customers who qualify and should be one of the options that customers consider over the next few months. It is with this…

Vodacom and Discovery have partnered to deliver a simple but powerful online healthcare platform for the benefit of all South Africans during the COVID-19 pandemic. This platform provides easy access for all South Africans to a COVID-19 risk tool, to help understand your personal risk for COVID-19 plus, where needed, to immediately schedule virtual healthcare professional consultations and get advice. Globally, telemedicine has proved invaluable in the management of this disease, with many governments and healthcare systems advocating for digital healthcare tools and virtual consults to be the first step and primary means of healthcare support during the COVID-19 outbreak.…

Vodacom has cut data prices by up to 40% and will provide free data to access essential services through Vodacom’s zero-rated platform ConnectU with immediate effect. The value of these initiatives is some R2.7-billion over the next year. Vodacom’s various 30-day data bundle prices will be cut across all of its channels by up to 40%, providing customers with even greater value and making it more affordable to connect. 30-day bundle size New Price Reduction 50MB R12 40% 150MB R29 33% 325MB R55 33% 500MB R79 21% 1GB R99 34% 3GB R229 23% 5GB R349 14% 10GB R469 22% 20GB…

South Africa has recorded five deaths resulting from Coronavirus, with 1 353 confirmed positive cases of COVID-19. The Minister of Health, Dr Zweli Mkhize, made the announcement at a media briefing in eThekweni on Tuesday. To date, the country has conducted 39 500 tests. The first recorded death was that of a 48-year-old woman in the Western Cape, with the second being an 85-year-old from the Free State, who had attended the Divine Restoration Church Ministries conference, where a number of infections were detected. The third death was that of a Gauteng man, who succumbed to respiratory distress two days ago.…

As South Africa settles into an unprecedented 21-day national lockdown and banks look to do what they can to help ease the financial burden and very real anxiety the general public is facing, TymeBank is leading the way when it comes to offering tangible support to its customers. With the world having been forced to rapidly switch to a digital way of working, TymeBank could not be better placed. “Being South Africa’s first digital bank, we’re built for this. As other companies and banks are having to rethink and reinvent themselves to be fully functional, we’re already able to demonstrate…

Naspers has committed R 1,5 billion in emergency aid to the government’s response to the Covid-19 crisis. The group will contribute R 500 million to the Solidarity Response Fund announced by the President last week. In addition, Naspers will buy R 1 billion worth of personal protective equipment and other medical supplies in China – in partnership with the Chinese government and Tencent – to support South Africa’s health workers and fly it to South Africa as soon as possible. “By working with government and civil society we want to help our country overcome this very difficult period. We hope…

Electronic Communications, Postal and Broadcasting Directions issued under Regulation 10 (8) of the Disaster Management Act Electronic Communications Services Licensees, OTTs and ISPs that provide linear and non-linear services bears the responsibility to remove fake news related to COVID-19 from their platforms immediately after identified as such. What are Fake News? “Fake News” means statements made with the intention to deceive as contemplated in the Disaster Management Regulations, 2020 What are the types of Fake News? Disinformation: Information that is false and deliberately created to harm a person, social group, organization or country for the purposes to influence public opinion…

The Gauteng Health Department has confirmed a COVID-19 case in Alexandra, Johannesburg. “The confirmed case, was tested and was instructed to remain under self-isolation while awaiting results,” said the department on Monday. According to the provincial department, the man who has tested and was subsequently found to be infected with the virus, disregarded instructions to self-isolate and travelled to outside of the province before the lockdown. “Upon positive confirmation of results, our team of tracers working with law enforcement agencies tracked the confirmed case to Limpopo,” said the department. The man is currently under isolation in a health facility in…

The country’s communications watchdog said on Monday it has taken a decision to extend the validity period of existing radio frequency spectrum licences in line with regulation 10 of the Radio Frequency Spectrum Regulations. The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) has resolved to grant all radio frequency spectrum licence holders an extension to renew their licences by no later than the 30th of June 2020. In terms of the Regulations, the due date for the renewal of radiofrequency spectrum licences is 31 March annually. The Regulations further provide that failure to pay the prescribed licence renewal fee by…

Vodacom announced on Monday it has appointed Khumo Shuenyane as a non-executive director. The Vodafone-owned mobile phone group said Shuenyane’s appointment is effective on 21 July 2020. Shuenyane has served as an independent non-executive director of Investec Limited and Investec Plc (together ‘Investec Group’), and several companies within the Investec Group, since 2014. He was appointed chairman of Investec Bank Limited, Investec Group’s South African banking subsidiary, in 2018. He has over a decade of experience in the telecoms industry. He served six years as Group Chief Mergers & Acquisitions Officer for MTN Group and a member of its Group…